Floor board support structure



ay 1969 J. E. RUTKOSKI I 3,442,224

FLOOR BOARD SUPPORT STRUCTURE Filed Dec. 23, 1966 Sheet of 2 INVENTOR.

w/QM AT'T 'Y JC-JSEPH E. RUTKOSK/ v y 6, 1969 J. E. RUTKOSKI 3,442,224

FLOOR BOARD SUPPORT STRUCTURE Filed Dec. 25, 1966 She t Z of 2 INVENTOR. JOSEPH E. RUTKOSKI a fa/QM A TT United States Patent 3,442,224 FLOOR BOARD SUPPORT STRUCTURE Joseph E. Rutkoski, Lyndora, Pa., assiguor to Pullman Incorporated, Chicago, 11]., a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 23, 1966, Ser. No. 604,263 Int. Cl. B61d 17/00, 45/00 U.S. Cl. 105-368 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A floor board structure providing for a tiedown arrangement adapted to be mounted in the underframe of a railway car as a sub assembly, and constructed to be adjustable between positions for supporting a floor board or a tiedown channel, as may be required.

The present invention relates to railway cars and more particularly to a floor structure for railway cars.

It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a floor board structure with a support assembly for a tiedown arrangement which is constructed and arranged so as to be adjustable between a position supporting a tiedown channel or a wooden floor board when the tiedown mechanism is not used.

It is still another object to provide a floor board support arrangement having a support assembly for a tiedown arrangement which is simple to fabricate and economical to apply to the railway car with which it is used.

Further objects and features will hereinafter appear.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view 'of a railway car underframe embodying the floor board support structure of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional View taken substantially along the lines of 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the tiedown channel support structure taken generally along the lines 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken generally along the lines 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view similar to FIG. 3 but showing the tiedown channel support structure in the position for supporting a floor board thereon; and

FIG. 6 is an end elevational view taken generally along the lines 6-6 of FIG. 5.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown an underframe 10 of a railway vehicle in which the under-frame 10 comprises generally center sill 11 having fixed thereto and spaced from the ends a pair of bolsters 12 extending transversely from the center sill. Between the end sills 13 are crossbearers 14 which may be of the conventional I-beam or channel construction. Extending longitudinally of the car are stringer members 16 which are adapted to support transversely extending floor boards. The floor boards 18 which may be of standard cross sectional dimensions are extended transversely along each side of the underframe 10 between the side sills 17 and the cargo tiedown channel assemblies, more fully to be described hereinafter. Extending between the opposing sides of the tiedown assemblies 19 and overlying the top plate 21 of the center sill 11 is a second row of transversely extending wooden floor boards 22. The floor boards 18 and 22 are arranged so as to be coplanar with respect to each other.

The tiedown assemblies 19 each comprise, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a channel member 23 of substantially C-shaped section including a horizontal web 24 from which are extended upwardly from the ends thereof a pair of legs 26-26 having inturned lips or flanges 27. Mounted within the channel 23 are tiedown mechanisms (not shown) which are used to tie lumber or other equipment to the car. For a more detailed description of a typical tiedown mechanism, reference is made to US. Patent #3,092,368.

Under some circumstances it may be desirable to provide a floor board assembly which eliminates the tiedown channel assemblies 19 so that the floor is entirely wood. To this end there is provided a plurality of tiedown channel support assemblies 28 which permit either the use of the tiedown channel or accommodates and supports a floor board thereon as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 in place of the tiedown channel.

The support assemblies as shown are spaced lengthwise of the car and fastened to the respective end sills 13, bolsters 12 and crossbearers 14. Each of the support assemblies comprises a right angular bracket 29 having a vertical leg 31 and a horizonal leg 32 on which there is fixed a U-shaped strap 33 including a horizontal web 34 and a pair of upstanding webs 36-36. Supported on the horizontal webs 34 of each of the straps 33 is a channel member 37 having a horizontal web 39 and a pair of downwardly depending legs 38 of which the terminal ends rest upon the horizontal webs 34 of the U-shaped straps 33. Fixed to the horizontal webs of the channel member 37 is the horizontal web 38 of the tiedown channel 23. To facilitate the manufacture and the assembly of the support assembly 28, the tiedown channel 23 is fixed to the channel 37 as a subassembly along the mating side edges as by a tack weld prior to installation on the railway car. The subassembly of the tiedown channel'23 :and channel 37 is later fixed to each of the straps 33- of the support assembly.

The downwardly depending flange .31 of the bracket 29 is provided with two sets of vertically spaced openings 41-41 and 4242 for receiving a fastening member such as a bolt. The vertical spacing between the two sets of openings 41-41 and 42-42 is arranged so that in one of the fastened positions on support straps 43 the floor channel webs 37 lie flush with the top plate 21 of the center sill 11 and in another position support the tiedown channel 23 between the floor boards 18 and 22.

For fastening the tiedown assembly 28 to the car there is provided a plurality of the support straps 43 each of which, as shown, is in the form of an angle member having a horizontal leg 44 from which there depends a downwardly depending leg 46. The horizontal leg 46 at the bolster 12 is fixed as by welding to the projecting portion of the top plate 45 thereof. The remaining straps 43 along the length of the car are fastened thereto similarly to projecting horizontal surfaces of the end sill 13 and crossbearers 14 as shown in FIG. 2. Formed in the downwardly depending leg are three sets of vertically spaced openings 4747, 48-48 and 49-49 which are vertically spaced complementary to the openings 41-41 and 42-42 in the leg 31 of the support bracket 29 of the tiedown assembly 28.

In assembling the tiedown channel assemblies 19 to the railway car the support bracket 46 is initially fastened in its various locations along the length of the car to the projecting portions of the transversely extending members. Thereafter, the tiedown support assemblies 28, including bracket 29, and the strap 33 welded thereto, are fastened as by bolts 50 to the respective support brackets 46. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, when it is desired to provide the car with a tiedown channel assembly 19, the bracket 29 is positioned so that the bolt receiving openings 41-41 and 42-42 align with the openings 48-48 and 49-49, respectively, in the bracket 46.

The tiedown channels 19 and floor support channel 37 which have been previously tack welded together are then inserted into the U-shaped clips 36. The subassembly of the tiedown channel and channel 37 are thereafter fixed in place by welds along the terminal ends of the upstanding leg 36 and side faces of the legs 29 of the tiedown channel 23. The above described manner of assembling the tiedown channel 23 materially reduces the number of man hours required to install the tiedown channels 23 by eliminating the individual fitting of the support structure to the car as required heretofore.

Under some circumstances the floor structure may not require the tiedown channels 19. The support assembly 28 readily adapts to these circumstances by utilizing the channel 37 as a floor board support as shown in FIGS. and 6.

To this end, the bracket 29 is relocated so that the openings 4141 and 42-42 are aligned with the openings 7 47--47 and 4848 of the bracket 46 and the bolts 50 inserted therethrough. The tiedown channel 23 is eliminated and the channel 37 is supported by the clips 33 of which the upstanding legs 36 have been shortened to embrace the downwardly depending channel legs 38. The channel 37 is then fixed to the legs 36 as by welding along the terminal edges. In this position of the support assemblies 28, the web 39 of the channel 37 lies substantially flush with the remaining wood board structure and is capable of accommodating a lengthwise extending board 51 between the transversely extending boards 18 and 22.

What is claimed is:

1. A tiedown channel assembly adapted to be mounted on the underframe of a railway car in a wooden plank floor structure along the respective sides of the center sill, said tiedown channel assembly comprising a plurality of longitudinally spaced and aligned mounting subassemblies including an angle member having a horizontal flange and a vertical flange and a U-shaped strap including a horizontal web mounted on said horizontal flange and having a pair of upstanding legs projecting therefrom; a support channel of substantially inverted U-shaped cross section having a horizontal web and a pair of downwardly depending legs, a tiedown channel of substantially C-shaped cross section superposed on said support channel, said tiedown channel including a horizontal web supported on said support channel horizontal web and a pair of upstanding legs and means. fixing said tiedown channel to said support channel, said fixed tiedown channel and support channel extending lengthwise of said railway vehicle and nested within said upright legs of said U-shaped straps; and means fixing said strap legs to said upstanding legs of said tiedown channel, said fastening members including a plurality of vertically spaced rows of bolt openings spaced to mate with complementary bolt receiving openings on the transverse members to which said mounting subassemblies are attached, said vertically spaced openings being spaced a predetermined distance so as to support said tiedown channel a predetermined distance relative to said floor with one set of complementary openings and to position said horizontal web of said support channel in a position for supporting a wooden plank in coplanar relationship with said plank floor when said tiedown channel is removed.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein said tiedown channel is tack welded to said support channel along the mating horizontal edges thereof.

3. The invention as defined in claim 2 wherein said support channel is nested within said strap with the terminal edges of said depending legs resting on said horizontal web of said strap.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,294,354 12/1966 Batey 366 3,315,617 4/1967 Schwiebert et al 105366 ARTHUR L. LAPOINT, Primary Examiner.

R. A. BERTSCH, Asssistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 1053 69, 422 

